she works hard for the money

On this rainy New York Thursday, I spent the day working.
Today was my babysitting day. However, the kids were off from school because unlike the schools I went to at their age, the schools here get Jewish holidays off. The parents had to work on Yom Kippur, so the kids needed someone to stay with them all day. So I arrived this morning at 9am, my coffee and umbrella in hand. I was ready to work.
The first part of the morning was spent playing scrabble with kid A, while kid G read. When kid A was bored with scrabble and hungry for lunch, we decided to begin our adventure in the city. We walked to the corner pizza shop for lunch. As kids raced around the restaurant screaming and making a scene, I was thankful that I was with such well-behaved children. After lunch we took a bus to the East Side. I was finally going to the Met. I had planned to do a scavenger-hunt, an idea given to me by nyc julie. I bought postcards of popular paintings and challenged the kids to look for the matches. They divided the postcards and began the hunt. Kid A found 3 out of her 4 pretty quickly. Kid G knew he didn't have a chance since we were in the European section and 2 of his were American paintings. The game died quickly and their interest in the museum did, too. On their part, not mine. I have only been to the Met once and that was in 1997. These kids go several times a year. It was nothing new...until we ended up in the modern art section. The bright colors seemed to catch their attention, and a helpful Museum guard pointed out interesting aspects of the art in the area. Although I would have loved to wander more through the galleries, I knew I couldn't. I'll go back another time.
We hailed a cab back to the Upper West Side. We stopped in the local mom-and-pop deli where the kids got their afternoon snack, and I got an afternoon coffee. Then it was back to the apartment to spend the rest of the rainy afternoon. Kid A and I played trouble while Kid G read more of his book. Kid G loves to read more than any kid I know. After Kid G had finished his homework, the three of us set up Monopoly- a game sure to consume much of the rest of the afternoon. Under any other circumstances, Monopoly would have been a fun game that takes hours to finish. All of us have been shut indoors all week due to rain. I could tell they were starting to feel restless. We finally just ended the game.
Kid G went back to his book, Kid A played with her dolls, and I started dinner. I made pad thai for Kid A and me, Ramen noodles for Kid G. When their dad arrived home at 7pm, the kids were fed, dishes put away, and a good day had been had by all.
It was the best 10 hours I've ever spent with kids. We played games, got pizza, went to a museum, listened to music. These kids like the same music as me. They are the coolest 8 and 9 year olds I've ever met, and I get paid to hang out with them. It was a great way to spend a rainy day in New York City.